Dein erstes Forum » l teams I was watching a lot of film by myself and ha

MONTREAL -- Milos Raonic called it a learning experience. It certainly wasnt the victory party the Uniprix Stadium crowd was hoping for as Rafael Nadal took only one hour eight minutes to down Canadas top tennis player 6-2, 6-2 in the US$3.49 million Rogers Cup final on Sunday. But it had taken 55 years for a Canadian just to get to the final of the countrys biggest tournament, so Raonic had much to celebrate despite the defeat. For one, by reaching the final he will be ranked 10th in the world when the next rankings appear Monday morning, making him the first Canadian to crack the top-10. He will be the youngest player in the top 10 as well. "The tournament overall was a great thing," the 22-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., said. "There were a lot of situations that Im very happy with the way I dealt with them, and there were a lot of learning experiences through it all. "A lot of stepping stones that I need to do in my career happened this week, so thats great. The match, obviously Im a little disappointed with myself. I would have hoped to deal with that situation a little bit better." The last Canadian to reach the final of what was then called the Canadian Open, the now 81-year-old Robert Bedard of Sherbrooke, Que., was among the more than 11,000 at centre court to see the power-serving Raonic meticulously taken apart by fourth-seeded Nadals service returns and brilliant baseline play. Nadal, one of the worlds best who was playing for the first time since his first-round loss at Wimbledon in June, posted his eighth tournament win this year and the 58th of his career. He sees Raonic as one of the rising talents in the sport. "With his serve, his chance to be in the top 10 for a long time is very good," the Spaniard said. "Then what you need is to work on the mental part and in the game from the baseline, to try to play the right way on the important points. "I think he will do it. Hes still young. Hes having great results. This week is going to be very important for him and for tennis in Canada in general." It was an unprecedented week for Canada, which already reached a milestone in April when it defeated Italy to make the Davis Cup semifinals for the first time. Of the six Canadians in the Rogers Cup main draw, a record five got to the second round. Then Raonic and Vernon, B.C., native Vasek Pospisil became the first two Canadians to make the semifinals of an ATP Tour tournament since Andrew Sznajder and Martin Wostenholme in 1990 in Rio de Janeiro. They played each other in a semifinal, a cliffhanger that went to a third-set tiebreaker. So the one-sided loss in the final stung, but it was still a big week as he made the final for the first time in a Masters series event, one level below the grand slams. Raonic had worn different coloured Davis Cup-style shirts with a maple leaf over the heart all week, but saved a red-and-white one for the final. When he walked onto the court, he got a standing ovation. "That was one of the most special feelings Ive had in my career to this date," he said. "I even got a little bit of goosebumps from that. Im very, very grateful to have that memory and that experience here." The crowd stayed with him despite the beating. Nadal had two service breaks in a quick first set, including one game that Raonic led 40-0. The Canadian wasted three break points on Nadals serve in the fourth game of the second set and saw his chance to make a contest of it slip away. His best weapon, his serve, was not on form. He got only 50 per cent of his first serves in, and had only four aces. "I was trying more to serve hard rather than hitting spots," he said. "I wasnt getting the percentages I needed on my first serve. "Obviously, (Nadal) was playing great. He wasnt making many errors, if any. But at some points, I wasnt making him play enough, or waiting for the right shot. I think I was rushing a lot in the first set and a half. "But you live and learn. Its an experience I can learn a lot from and Im sure I will." Asked to comment on Raonic, Bedard says he has a bright future but needs to work on his game. "His return of serve is his weakness, for sure," said Bedard, who still plays doubles a few times per week. "He relies too much on his serve. "If I were his coach, and Im not close to that, I wouldnt let him serve for a while and just make him play and improve on the other shots that he has. One thing he might not be able to improve as much as he should, as much as Pospisil will, is that his mobility is not that great. But that can improve also." Nadal, who is 4-0 against Raonic in his career, won $547,300, while Raonic took in $268,350. Nadal stretched his record for wins in Masters series tournaments to 25 with his fourth this year. He is 48-3 and has reached the final of 10 out of 11 tournaments played in 2013. Raonic and Pospisil are slated to play this week in Cincinnati. Kansas City Royals Store . Ribery terrorized the Schalke defence throughout and put the home side ahead in the 36th minute when he chipped the goalkeeper before stroking the ball into the empty net. The French winger struck again after the interval, combining with Thomas Mueller on the left before firing a deflected shot beyond the helpless Timo Hildebrand in the 55th, as Bayern bounced back from Wednesdays 1-0 loss at FC Basel in the Champions League. Kansas City Royals Gear .Y. - Referee Ed Hochuli referred to replay official Tom Sifferman by his nickname Jungle Boy, which was heard on the in-stadium microphone during the Arizona Cardinals-Carolina Panthers NFC wild-card game Saturday. https://www.cheaproyals.com/ . Their 9-19 record remains identical to the crosstown rivals in Brooklyn and trails both Toronto and Boston in the Atlantic Division. Raymond Felton, their declining point guard, is back on the sideline nursing his third injury of the season. Stitched Royals Jerseys . -- Miami Dolphins defensive co-ordinator Kevin Coyle defended the management style of coach Joe Philbin in the wake of the teams bullying scandal. Royals Jerseys China . The light-heavyweight champion and number one ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the world is on an 11-fight UFC winning streak, the longest in the history of the weight class.Laurent Duvernay-Tardif has become a master of time management. This off-season, the McGill Redmen offensive tackle/medical student has deftly juggled his schedule to accommodate working 60-plus hours a week in the pediatric emergency ward at Montreal Childrens Hospital, working out, playing football in Florida and travelling across the U.S. for individual sessions and visits with NFL officials. On Friday and Saturday, hell spend some well-earned down time watching television to learn where his football future lies. The six-foot-five, 314-pound Duvernay-Tardif is projected to go anywhere between the third and seventh rounds of the NFL draft, which begins Thursday night with the first round. The second and third rounds will go Friday, with the final four being held Saturday. "Ive enjoyed every moment of this process," the articulate Duvernay-Tardif said in a telephone interview. "Its been really intense but at the same time its amazing to think I might play in the NFL, which is a dream. "This process isnt one every 23-year-old gets to go through and I believe the interviews alone are something that will help me in my life. Ive really enjoyed it." Duvernay-Tardif, a converted defensive lineman, has been firmly entrenched atop the CFL central scouting bureaus list of the top-15 prospects for the May 13 draft. But the native of St. Hilaire, Que., has seen his NFL stock skyrocket following his pro day in Montreal in March. Auditioning for nine NFL teams -- Oakland, Kansas City, Philadelphia, Arizona, New York Jets, Green Bay, Chicago, San Francisco and Buffalo -- and four CFL clubs -- Montreal, Calgary, Toronto and Ottawa -- the two-time All-Canadian was impressive in posting a 40-yard dash time of 4.94 seconds, a 31.5-inch vertical and 34 reps in the bench press. Duvernay-Tardif wasnt invited to the NFL combine but those numbers were as good as any offensive lineman who tested in Indianapolis. NFL draft guru Mike Mayock, a former Toronto Argonauts defensive back, says Duvernay-Tardif -- who was featured in Sports Illustrated in March -- has definitely impressed. "I think Duvernay-Tardif has gone from an afterthought to a solid fourth- or fifth-round developmental project with starter skills," he said. Gil Brandt, the former Dallas Cowboys player-personnel director, also sees the towering McGill star being drafted. "I would imagine that a team will take a chance on him around the sixth or seventh round and hope to turn him into an NFL player," Brandt wrote in his blog on the NFLs website. However, Duvernay-Tardif isnt the only Canadian garnering NFL interest. Also highly regarded is Brent Urban, a six-foot-seven, 298-pound defensive tackle from the University of Virginia who was a 2013 second-round pick of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Urban, of Mississauga, Ont., was a two-year starter for the Cavaliers who was invited to this years Senior Bowl but missed the game due to injury. Injuries are the biggest knock against Urban but teams definitely like his ability in a 3-4 defensive scheme (three down linemen, four linebackers). "The Urban kid is interesting," Mayock said. "I wanted to see more of him at the Senior Bowl and he got hurt. "The five technique is probably his best position, a 3-4 defensiive end in a 3-4 defence.ddddddddddddI think he can go in the third round. I think hes a big, strong kid. Hes stout. In addition to playing that five technique, he could probably move inside also. So I like him and I think theres some significant upside there." Last year, Rice tight end Luke Willson, a native of LaSalle, Ont., was the lone Canadian drafted, going in the fifth round to the Super Bowl-champion Seattle Seahawks. In 2012, a record four players from Canada were selected. Three Canadians -- defensive linemen Tyrone Crawford of Windsor, Ont. (third round, Dallas) and Christo Bilukidi of Ottawa (sixth round, Oakland) and centre Philip Blake of Toronto (fourth round, Denver) -- were drafted. So was Akiem Hicks, an American defensive lineman who played at the University of Regina (third round, New Orleans). Other Canucks who could hear their name called include Winnipeg natives T.J. Jones, a receiver at Notre Dame, and John Urschel, an offensive lineman at Penn State, as well as Oregon linebacker Bo Lokombo, of Abbotsford, B.C. Duvernay-Tardif, Canadian university footballs top lineman in 13, performed at his pro day weighing 298 pounds, some 17 pounds under his playing weight at the East-West Shrine Bowl in January. But that was by design so Duvernay-Tardif could be quicker and more explosive in testing. "There are many NFL teams that like bigger offensive lineman and others like the Philadelphia Eagles who like offensive linemen to be a bit smaller and quicker," he said. "I think I was able to show I could be both kinds of player." Duvernay-Tardif said he visited with nine NFL teams following his pro day, with many curious how he can juggle football with his heavy academic load. During the season at McGill, Duvernay-Tardif had a limited practice schedule because of his studies, meaning he had to be imaginative in order to keep up. "I think most teams believe being involved in medicine is a plus but they want to know why and how youre able to manage that," he said. "I had to tell teams I was watching a lot of film by myself and having Facetime meetings with my coach to prepare for games because I wasnt able to attend every practice. "But when its time to go to the board and draw concepts and schemes and explain them, I can do that because I think medicine has helped me become a cerebral guy and able to process information." However, not all the questions Duvernay-Tardif faced dealt with football. "All the questions about drugs and arrests are kind of (out there) for me but I guess its a reality of professional football," he said. "But every time they did, I was like, What? For sure, no, I am not doing coke (cocaine) or anything like that." For prospects like Duvernay-Tardif, the draft culminates months of uncertainty and seemingly endless testing and intense questioning. However, Duvernay-Tardif wont be content just hearing his name called and signing an NFL contract. "The draft is important and will be a great moment," he said. "But at the same time if I go to a team and get cut during training camp I wouldnt have done anything. "My main focus will be going to training camp and working hard to make the team." ' ' '